Because You Wouldn't Leave me Alone
by elizabethanprincessI
Summary: So I've recently become obsessed with young dwarves so in this happened :) I may upload more chapters, but I don't know - let me know if you want more :) Okay, thank you! :)
1. Chapter 1

"Well, well, well," Alys looked up to see five all-too familiar faces; "It's our _little_ Alys, isn't it?" They snickered.

"I'm not little," she mumbled into the pages of her book, not allowing herself to look up, for fear of pushing them too far. She'd done it previously and it had not ended well. "All dwarves are, anyway."

"What? Get your nose out of those books and speak to us properly!" they demanded.

She kept her head down and silently prayed that by some miracle they would leave her in peace. She had been quite content, reading in the midsummer heat of noon by the lake. It was not the first time the five large dwarves had targeted her specifically – they were not the most kind, by far. Alys had been easy pickings from the start – she was short, even for a dwarf and never seemed to have her nose out of a book.

"_I said _get your nose out of that book!" he shouted, and grabbed the book from her hands.

Alys yelped, scrambling to her feet in an attempt to retrieve it, but it was held high above her head. She jumped, arms outstretched in an attempt to get it back, but it was always inches out of her reach. Soon, everyone was whooping and cheering around the two of them as he teased her, jerking it up and down, all the while out of range.

"Stop it!" she yelled, getting tired, but she refused to relent, that book meant a whole lot more than they could ever know. "Give it back!"

"You want it back?" he laughed. "Then go get it!" and with that, he tossed it into the lake.

She yelped in horror and pushed her way through the thronging crowds towards the lake. She scrambled down the bank to the edge of the rushing waters. She looked up and down, scanning for her book. After a few moments she caught sight of it, lodged in a branch that was stationary enough – it seemed to be lodged in the bank below the surface and reached a good few metres into the water. Instantly, she began to run for it, hitching her skirts up so as not to trip. She scaled it briefly before clambering onto the thick foot of the branch and beginning to crawl along it.

Fili ruffled the hair on his brother head, much to Kili's disdain. Fili laughed as Kili tried to push him (unsuccessfully) down the bank and into the lake.

"Nice try," Fili chuckled, and ruffled his hair again.

Kili slammed into him from the side, and sent them both skidding down the bank, landing just inches from the water.

"You were asking for that," Kili said defensively as he picked himself up.

"Yeah, well done, Kili. How do you expect us to get back home now?" he muttered, looking up at the steep bank behind them.

His brother had already begun searching the area for an easier way out when something caught his eye.

"What's that?" he said aloud and instantly began to move towards it. Fili walked beside him, each with a similar confused expression fixed on their faces. As they neared it, they realised it was not an it, but a she. And that she was knelt on the sturdiest part of a precarious branch, reaching for a leather-bound book that was lodged in the thinnest part of the branch that was furthest out into the rushing waters. She was struggling to keep herself steady and looked extremely likely to topple over and into the lake.

The two brothers glanced at each other before approaching her.

"Excuse me, miss?" Fili began.

Alys jumped practically out of her skin with a loud yelp and almost feel off the branch. In her flustered hurry to not drown she had lost a shoe to the water and cursed under her breath. When she had finally regained herself, she turned to face them?

"Yes?" she replied breathlessly.

"Do you need a hand?" Fili asked with apprehension readable in his voice.

"While I appreciate you concern, kindly get lost. I can do this." Alys snapped in reply.

Kili gave a loud guffaw. "No offense, princess, but it really doesn't appear that way."

That much was true. Her hair was a tangled mess of assorted leaves, she only had one shoe and her dress had caught on a branch and had torn, leaving a huge rip in the side. Fair to say she had been trying for what felt like ages, some would say longer than necessary but no. It was extremely important to her that she retrieved that book, and no amount of time was too long.

"Did I ask for your opinion?" she called, not looking at either of them. She had focused again on the book.

"Kili," his brother hissed, elbowing him in the ribs, "You're not getting anywhere insulting her."

"Listen to your brother, Kili!" Alys shouted. She had sharp ears after years of hiding from bullies.

Fili hid a smirk behind his hand and Kili's smile dropped from his face. They moved closer to the edge of the water together and they both eyed the branch. It would be much easier for either of them to obtain the book for her, for a start they were much larger than she was and far more athletic. Plus the risk of drowning was reduced by the fact that the two of them could actually swim.

"You're clearly getting nowhere, just let us help-"

"No."

Kili rolled his eyes and stood on the start of the branch, closely followed by Fili.

"Why are you so determined to help me when I did not ask for nor need it?" she turned to face them with one brow raised.

"Because as sarcastic and disdainful as you are, we'd rather not see you drown." And with that she was being lifted into the air by two powerful arms, and plonked down behind them at the start of the branch. She squirmed against their grip until she was released and even then tried to get back. She was far too small to make any impact on them; they blocked the branch completely as she struggled to get past them. They turned their back on her and she pummelled at their backs with as much force as she could muster, but had absolutely no effect.

In a few seconds, the book had been safely swept up into Kili's hand and they were both lifting her back to the shore. She snatched the book from his hands the moment they set down on the dry land and glared at them both. She turned on her heel and stalked off.

"You're welcome!" Fili called after her and she snapped her head around to fix him with another death stare.

They both laughed and ran after her.

"We just saved you from potential death and you've not so much as told us your name," Kili grinned from her right.

"I'm Fili," Fili grinned from her left.

"I'm wondering why you won't leave me alone," she snapped.

"And I'm Kili," he laughed.

She rolled her eyes and tried to outstep them, but of course they were quicker.

"Why do you refuse to tell us your name?" Fili enquired.

"I'm Alys, okay? Will you leave me alone now?" she turned and looked at them directly for the first time.

They laughed.

"Of course not."


	2. Chapter 2

It was a warm morning, and Alys was reading again. The same book, but this time somewhere more hidden. She did not intend to run into the bullies again, so she'd found a decent tree (it just so happened to be an apple tree) and climbed high into the branches. The leaves hung around her like some sort of protective veil, and she felt safe. Slightly ironically in retrospect, considering that she was perched on a high branch and one wrong move could mean hurtling to the ground at break-neck speed – _literally _break-neck speed, as in break-your-neck-if-you-fall speed. However, she held herself well and was well-balanced thus reducing the broken neck statistics.

She turned the page tenderly, taking great care with every movement when something blocked her vision. She blew the leaf from her face without a second thought. Leaves fall. Nothing odd there. But then an entire flurry of them fluttered down onto her and she almost dropped her book. She shook them off as well as she could without falling to a broken neck. And then there were voices.

"You're never going to reach that one!"

"Watch me!"

"Fili, mind that branch – Fili!"

"Oh no." she muttered at the familiar voices and names.

There was a yell and her safe leaf veil was infiltrated through the roof by a falling dwarf. Before he could hit anything and break his neck, his brother caught him by the ankles, leaving him dangling upside-down and face-to-face with a stunned Alys.

"Hey! It's you again!" he grinned. "Kili, it's her again!"

"Who?" he called from the now visible branch above them, trying to get a look at Alys, causing Fili to swing about dangerously.

"Careful!" she found herself saying, earning laughter from both brothers.

"We're fine!" Kili laughed from above.

"Uh-huh," she wasn't convinced. Fili was slowly getting lower and lower, gradually sliding out of his brother's grasp. She felt like she should do something, but what? If she tried to help him down, she'd only knock the both of them over and there'd be more than one broken neck. So that wasn't happening.

Then a sudden flurry of leaves, two simultaneous yells as Kili lost his footing and they both fell downwards. They were tumbling at a sickening pace and before she could do something sensible, Alys was being pulled down with them, as one of the two brothers grabbed the skirts of her dress instead of the branch and all three of them were hurtling down. Then there was a jarring in her shoulder as her hands found a branch only a few feet from the ground, still with the two brothers clinging at her skirt. It began to tear.

"Let go of my dress." She said through gritted teeth.

"Excellent idea."

"I concur."

Neither of them moved.

"You do realise we're only five feet up?" she pointed out. Her arm was screaming out in protest from supporting the weight of herself and two older dwarves as well, the sooner they were gone, the better.

"Yes we do."

"Well if you won't," she sighed, and let go.

In a flash, they were heaped on the floor. She breathed out heavily and untangled herself. She stood up clutched her book to her chest. It had never left her side once since she had brought it out that day, and intended to keep it that way.

Kili and Fili were laughing ridiculously and loudly while Alys picked the leaves from her hair. She rolled her eyes a little too obviously.

"What?" their laughter died down abruptly.

"Nothing, just a near-death experience that is somehow funny to you." She barked irritably.

"Oh, come on-"

"Goodbye," she snapped and turned away.

"No, you're going nowhere." Kili strode towards her and grabbed her wrist.

"Let go of my wrist." She hissed, not looking behind at him.

"Nope," he said with a smile.

"I have to be at home right now," she sighed, "I have things to do." That was true - her family ran the bakery and she was supposed to lend a hand that morning.

"Oh, really? What things?"

"Perhaps you'd like to ask a question that _is _your business?" she snapped, straining against his grip.

"Perhaps you'd like to stay around for longer than five seconds at a time?" he retorted, perhaps slightly less harshly than Alys's tone.

"No thank you." She looked across at the sun, high in the sky. She was late. "Please, I have to be somewhere."

She was getting irritated at their silence. "I really have to go! I'll come back when I'm done, okay? Just let me go!"

His grip slackened slightly.

"When you're done? We'll be waiting." And he let go.

"Sorry I'm late, mother, something held me up." She sighed, tying her hair back as she walked into the kitchen.

"Oh? And what was that?" her mother turned with brows raised in mild shock.

"Two ridiculously persistent dwarves." She sighed as she tied an apron around herself.

"Oh? Were they . . . male?" her mother suddenly became very interested in the conversation.

"Subtle as always, mother. And yes." She picked up a bowl and set it on the work surface. "I said I'd go back and see them when we're done, if that's alright." She looked up briefly for her mother's consent.  
"Of course it is!" she grinned. She seemed ridiculously happy about the whole thing.

Alys smiled ever so slightly, it was nice to see her mother happy for once.

Alys stumbled out of the bakery with flour dusting her dress and nose and afresh loaf of bread in her hands. Her mother's idea.

She made her way to the same place – the same apple tree.

They were both still there, stood with their backs to her. They were each throwing stones into the night, seeing who could get theirs furthest. Kili was winning.

"What are the males in the Middle Earth doing with their time?" she crossed her arms and they turned at the sound of her voice.

They both laughed at her comment, although she was half-serious.

"We were starting to think you weren't coming." They walked over to her.

"Believe me, it occurred to me as well." She handed them the bread. "From my mother."

They thanked her and made their way to the tree trunk. They gestured for her to join and she did so, if somewhat reluctantly.

"This is good. Please thank your mother on our behalf."

Alys was almost shocked at the manners they displayed. She didn't bother telling them that she had made that loaf and burned it slightly, hence why her mother had offered she share with her "new friends". She told her they were not friends, (earning even more excitement from her mother) just ridiculously persistent. She had refused to believe a word of it.

"Where did you have to run off to, then?" Kili enquired, throwing a chunk of bread into the air and catching it between his teeth.

"If it's not obvious from the bread, apron and the small coating of flour on my dress, I was working. Our family runs the bakery here."

"Bakery, huh? Interesting."

"Nope."

"What?"

"Wrong."

"Wrong? What's wrong?"

"You said 'interesting'. That's wrong. There is nothing whatsoever interesting about me."


	3. Chapter 3

Whoa, hi! So this took much longer than it should have. I really don't have an excuse, I'm just lazy. Enjoy anyway! (I know it's quite short but things are about to happen and it'll be important :)

And thank you so much to those who reviewed! I really appreciate it! xx

* * *

"Thorin?" Dis called from the kitchen.

"Aye?" he replied.

"We're out of bread," she said, expectantly.

Kili stood up hurriedly, his brother pushing up after him. "We'll go!"

"Yeah, don't worry, we've got it!"

"You two relax – put your feet up!"

"We'll get the bread!"

It was raining, so when the two of them crashed into the bakery, they were trailing mud, leaves and general mess.

"Oh! My, are you two alright?" Alys's mother rushed up to greet them. "Come in – warm yourselves by the fire, I'll get you some towels."

Before they could respond, she had rushed into the back room to fetch them those towels.

They glanced at each other before rushing to the fireplace. They were not about to deny that they looked a mess – the rain had certainly caught them unawares.

"Mother! I think the rain ruined my book- oh! You again?"

Alys ran in, looking as bad, if not worse than the brothers. Her reddish-brown curls spilled roguishly past her shoulders, soaked through with rainwater and clinging to her face. Her white blouse was wet through and sticking to her shoulders and chest while a once-grey skirt was mud-splattered and darkened by rain.

Kili opened his mouth to say something – what, he really had no idea – but she stormed past them into the back before they could breathe a syllable.

"When did they get here, mother?" she sighed, wringing her hair out.

"Just now- do you know them?" her mother was busying about, trying to locate the towels.

"Yeah, they were the two I went to see yesterday."

"Are they truly?" she looked stunned and excited as she peered around the doorframe.

"Mother!" she scolded, grabbing her by the sleeve to pull her back into the room.

"What? Can't I show interest in my daughter's friends?"

"For the last time, they are not my friends! I do not have friends! I have books, but I do. Not. Have. Friends."

Her mother pretended not to hear her, and charged back into the front room with an armful of towels and blankets.

An exasperated noise burst from her lips as grabbed a towel and started drying her hair roughly. She was taking her own sweet time – there had not been a break from the two Durin brothers that week. After a while, she stopped going outside to read and spent all of her time in the bakery, taking out her angry book-mourning out on bread dough.

"… tomorrow, then?"

"Sounds good. We'll speak to Uncle,"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Alys hopped into the front room. "What are you planning?"

"Just dinner, Alys, calm down. These lovely boys are bringing over their mother and uncle!" Her mother swatted her away.

"Wait, who are your mother and uncle?" Alys asked apprehensively. She may or may not have seen them about, and it felt like she needed to know what was coming beforehand.

"Dis and Thorin,"

Alys's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Oh, Mahal, you have _got _to be kidding me,"

Of _course _their uncle was the heir to the throne. Oh Mahal. _They were heirs to the throne._

The awkward in the room was making Alys physically uncomfortable. She tried to focus on her plate instead of the three basically-royalty sat before her.

All she could think about was their atrocious table manners – they had finished their food in a matter of seconds and all Alys could feel was stupid pressure to _just finish your meal already, Alys._

The silence hung between them with frustrating unpleasantness, but when Thorin began to talk it only made things a thousand times worse.

"Erebor has-"

Alys slammed down her napkin with much more force than was necessary and pushed out of the dining room, trying not to let the anger show in her face.

She was at her sister's hut before she knew it.

"The- the _audacity_! I can't even believe that they could- that any of them – that _my own mother _- oh, Mahal, I just need to- Amelia, please I-I need to be away from them, from everyone for a while. Hide me?"

Her sister smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Amelia Rose was only a few minutes older than Alys, but fortunately she was better at something other than reading and being sarcastic, so could afford to move out and start her own life. She'd actually put some effort and work into her baking and brewery and opened a small tavern, selling sweets and other baked goods there.

Born her (non-identical) twin, Alys did not get to see her as much as she'd like. Work and books tended to come between them.

"Of course you can, little one."

"In the name of Mahal, you are five minutes older than me!"

"And don't you forget it!"


End file.
